Hevolution-AFAR New Investigator Awards expanded with $16 million grant

The American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR), is pleased to announce a $16 million expansion of the Hevolution-AFAR New Investigator Awards in Aging Biology and Geroscience Research, a grant program to enable early-career investigators with labs in the US and Canada to research healthspan-expanding therapeutics and treatments. Hevolution Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides grants and early-stage investments to incentivize research and entrepreneurship in healthspan science, has awarded the AFAR $16 million to expand the program.

AFAR and the Hevolution Foundation launched the New Investigator Awards in 2022 as a pilot initiative to support research projects in the basic biology of aging or geroscience-;a research paradigm based on addressing the biology of aging and age-related diseases to promote healthy aging. In its first cycle, the program generated strong interest in the global aging research community and funded 18 research projects, spanning topics such as cellular senescence, compounds such as metformin and rapamycin, and translational topics such as data-guided drug discovery.

Given the enthusiastic reception from the scientific community and the high quality of the investigators and their research, Hevolution is expanding this program with an additional commitment of $16 million to continue their partnership with AFAR. The funding will provide support in 2023 and 2024 for up to 36 investigators in Canada and the United States with three-year awards of $375,000 each.

"The Hevolution-AFAR New Investigator Awards in Aging Biology and Geroscience are vital to support the next generation of geroscience and aging biology researchers. Nurturing this young talent is crucial for the future advancement of novel gerotherapeutics to extend healthspan in line with our mission to provide grants and early-stage investments to incentivize independent research in the emerging field of healthspan science," states Felipe Sierra, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer, Hevolution Foundation.

The New Investigator Awards are selected through AFAR's vigorous review process led by a committee of accomplished scientists representing a wide range of expertise in biomedical research on aging. The New Investigator Awards selection committee is chaired by Gordon Lithgow, PhD, Professor at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging, who notes: "The New Investigator Awards meet a need in the field to better support early career investigators while addressing the unique impact of the biology of aging on the biology of age-related diseases."

Hevolution Foundation is providing much needed resources in order to build the human capital necessary to drive and advance the field. The unique approaches of the selected awardees will influence the future of healthspan research that is working to help us all live healthier, longer."

Stephanie Lederman, EdM, Executive Director of AFAR

For more information on the Hevolution-AFAR New Investigator Awards in Aging Biology and Geroscience and all AFAR grant programs, please visit http://www.afar.org/funding-opportunities. Explore more perspectives from many of the inaugural New Investigators in AFAR's Grantee Spotlight Interviews here.

AFAR anticipates announcing the 2023 New Investigators in early 2024.